News
Cancer patient Kayla St. Laurent granted wish to perform with Sistema orchestra
ALAN COCHRANE TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Five-year-old Kayla St. Laurent beamed with delight Wednesday as she received a standing ovation at the end of her first-ever public performance, playing violin with the Sistema Orchestra.
With her mother, siblings and nearly 200 others filling the auditorium at Edith Cavell School in Moncton, the little girl from Memramcook had a wish fulfilled – and more.
With the full Sistema orchestra and conductor Tony Delgado behind her, Kayla performed an extended version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on the violin she received last Christmas from Make-A-Wish Atlantic Provinces. She barely missed a note in the solo as she received encouragement from her violin teacher, Dominique Dupuis.
The brief concert at Edith Cavell School marked World Wish Day. The global organization grants wishes of children living with life-threatening medical conditions.
Five-year-old Kayla St. Laurent, seen with Antonio Delgado, conductor and musical director of the Sistema NB youth orchestra, plays violin with the orchestra at Edith Cavell Schol on Wednesday afternoon. The Memramcook girl received the volin from Make-A-Wish Atlantic Provinces. PHOTO: Alan Cochrane/Times &Transcript
Kayla was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma and underwent treatment at the IWK children’s hospital in Halifax.
While at the Halifax hospital, Kayla and her mother Maria St. Laurent would make daily trips around the building.
“One day, we were down in the lounge, and she saw a girl playing the violin as her mother played piano. They were serenading everyone. I didn’t realize how much that had inspired her until she made it one of her wishes,” her mother told the Times & Transcript.
When Kayla was approached by Make-A-Wish, she said she wanted a violin and learn to play so she could bring joy to her family. The organization quickly went to work to secure a violin through the Long & McQuade chain of music stores. The also asked well-known violinist and fiddler Dominque Dupuis to be her teacher.
“They contacted me because I live in Memramcook and they wanted someone close. I stopped teaching a few years ago but when they asked me of course I couldn’t say no,” Dupuis said Wednesday. “She’s such a special little girl and she’s been a real natural playing the violin, and even difficult things like holding the bow properly seem to come naturally to her, so she’s been doing really, really good. She’s starting out with classical violin, which gives her a good base, but if she ever decides to branch out into fiddling I’ll be able to help her with that, too.”
Kayla came home from Halifax just before Christmas with a clean bill of health and her new violin. She has been getting lessons once a week and Wednesday was her first time performing in public. There were about 200 people in the room, including parents students and photographers snapping her photo as she played, but she came through with a solid performance.
After the show, Kayla whispered shyly that she wasn’t nervous and decided to just get up on stage and do it.
“They say if you can’t speak words, music does it for you,” her mother said. “I think it’s helping her in that way, because when you are five you can’t explain what you are going through and how you are feeling.”
Ken MacLeod, president and CEO of Sistema, said the idea of a sick little girl wishing for a violin so she could play for her family was a wonderful story that falls into the values of the after-school music program for kids.
“She had a chance to hear a violin and it captivated her heart and her imagination and she thought,‘Is that possible for me?’”MacLeod said.
When she got her first white violin with hand-painted flowers, it was presented by Maritime musicians Joel Plaskett and Alan Doyle on behalf of Musi-Counts, a charity that provides musical instruments to children in need.
After Wednesday’s performance, she was presented with a bouquet of flowers, a keepsake necklace and a second violin. She will also receive more lessons from Dominque Dupuis and a chance to be recorded at the Pumpk’n Patch Recording studio in Memramcook, which is operated by Dupuis’ husband, Danny Bourgeois.
